Saturday 2008 .
It was December 7:00 AM and as usual Rita was getting ready for school . She used to go school with her cousins. After getting ready and having breakfast she started to pack her bagpack . She was about to leave but suddenly she overheard her mother telling everyone in the family something. All she heard is “Lalu is no more”. Her mother told her to skip classes. Everyone rushed to her aunt’s house. It was too crowded. Rita’s aunt and his family members were crying. She was a kid then so she didn’t cry but she Understood whatever was happening. They took Lalu for the last rites. Everyone there was talking about how Lalu died .
Rita lived in a small village, where people were superstitious . They used to believe that her aunt’s mother was a senior rabbi. So one of her aunt was married to a guy in the same village Lalu was born. Lalu’s family was too poor. They barely used to make their ends meet. So when Lalu grew up Rita’s aunt who was married told her mother about Lalu. They decided to keep Lalu as a helper in their home as they had no son. Lalu was very playful he had friends and he often used to play with Rita and her cousin . But one day when he was playing with Rita and her cousin he decided to be a ghost . So they were playing and as Lalu was decided to play a ghost he was playing and acting like he is eating them . But he was actually licking them and biting them . Rita and her cousin felt uneasy and it was getting a bit dark so they went home after playing.
After two days Lalu died. It was December, too cold . Everyone had dinner and everyone in the house went to sleep except Lalu. In winter everyone use to sit for hours in front of fire . He was sitting beside the fire late night because he was too cold . He use to sleep in a room attached to the main house. His room had five holes for ventilation. At night when he was sitting beside the fire he saw someone and then he went to his room . Later he found dead. Rita’s aunt told everyone that it was too cold that night so he decided to take the chulha in his room . In village people use chulha to cook food . They put wood first and then coal in the chulha then light it with a matchstick. So Rita’s aunt said he died because of the gas produced by the chulha. And everybody agreed. But that night Lalu went to his room and the chickens too as usual . Rita’s aunt had chickens and they used to live in Lalu’s room in a corner . All chicken died with Lalu except one. Everyone was shocked. How come this is possible? Everyone died except that one chicken. Nobody had answers.
Later when the chicken grew up he became too big . He was a cock (male chicken). As he grew up he started scaring every girl except Rita’s aunt and mother. They named him Lalu . Everyone was scared of Lalu except males in that village and the aunt’s family. He would stalk Rita and her cousin while they go to school .He would walk silently behind them just to attack them and if someone looks behind he looks away and acts like he didn’t see them .He acted like a man not a bird. Everyone was shocked and speechless. Rita’s family used to go to her aunt house for water because they had no source. Rita’s aunt’s had a well in their home . So whenever Rita’s family or anyone used to go there Lalu would attack them immediately. Sometimes he would hide and when people are relieved that finally Lalu is not here he suddenly show up and attack them . Everyone was scared and questioning them . How is that possible a bird acting like a human . No birds does that. Everyone started questioning them . And everyone in the village stopped going to their house. So finally Rita’s aunt had to get rid off him . Nobody knows what happened with Lalu but they said they sold him.
Later on when time passed it was late night when Rita overheard her grandmother saying that Lalu never died . One night before dying Lalu saw his aunt and her mother doing something in the dark . He could hear them casting spells. So he went to his room but they knew he saw them so Rita’s aunt who everyone thought that was a senior rabbi was not actually the senior rabbi, it was his husband. Rita’s aunt’s father. He was also there when Lalu saw them doing evil things in dark, but lalu didn’t see him. Later on when Lalu went to his room they put their soul in that one male chicken, and in the morning they planted the whole story of “How Lalu Died” .After hearing this Rita was too stunned to speak. She quietly went to her room. She realised why Lalu only attacked girls because he was attracted to them .She was constantly thinking what if they didn’t sell him ? What did they do with him? Then comes bahadur….
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